Re: (tangent thoughts arising from) Active-Ergative langs (discussion)

On Wed, Sep 20, 2000 at 06:12:52PM -0700, Marcus Smith wrote:
[snip]
> Looks like a "switch-reference" system - I have one of these in Telek
> too.  Since not even all linguists have seen switch-reference, I suppose I
> ought to explain.
[very interesting explanation snipped]

Awesome. Subordinate clauses in my conlang also uses a similar mechanism.
There is a word called the subordinating relative, which is inflected for
case. Its case indicates the function of the subordinate clause in the
sentence. The subordinate clause itself is a complete, self-contained
sentence, except that in the case of modifiers, it will end with an
auxilliary inflection relative (aux-rel) preceding the noun being
modified. This aux-rel marks the case of the noun in the subordinate
clause; whereas the noun itself matches the case of the subordinating
relative at the beginning of the clause.

For example:
        lyy's  pii'z3d3 na       biz3t30'  byy'jh d3       manga'  loo'ru.
        goes   the man  <subord> the woman gave   <auxrel> horse   countryside.
        (verb) (cvy)    (instr)  (org)     (verb) (cvy)    (instr) (rcp)
                        ^^                                 ^^
                        \\_______ subordinate clause _____//
                        "the horse that the woman gave"
        "The man goes into the countryside by the horse that the woman gave."

Notice that "na" matches "manga'" in case (instrumental); "d3" indicates
that "manga'" functions in the conveyant case within the subclause.

Having two relatives (or particles, if you wish) to mark the boundaries of
the subclause, both of which are fully inflected for case, means that you
can attach sub-clauses to any noun in a sentence, in any case. And because
the "linking noun" -- the noun being modified -- inherits a second case
marking from the aux-rel, its function within the subordinate clause is
completely unambiguous.

Another example (which is probably closer to what you're talking about):
  pii'z3d0 tww'ma mir33'nu     n3    lyy's loo'ru      da       m3ng3'.
  the man  tells  the children <sub> go    countryside <auxrel> horse
  "The man tells the children about the horse by which he went into the
  countryside."

The subordinating relative "n3" matches with "m3ng3'", forming a conveyant
clause which indicates the content of the man's telling. The aux-rel "da"
marks the horse as an instrumental noun in the subordinate clause; hence,
the subclause reads "the horse by which [he] went into the countryside".


T